Maryland / Charles County
Score 36 · moderate · #8 of 23 in MD
Crawl space moisture in Charles County, MD
Charles County scores moderate: no single wet-soil signal dominates its mapped acres. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 69% of acres — it averages 1.6 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 1.6 ft
- 2Wet soils 23%
- 3Moisture score 36
- 4EPA radon zone 2
Reading the Charles County soil survey
The score of 36 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 34.7 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 30.7, a shallow water table 52.4, and flooding 11.9; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (41% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).
A water table under two feet is the single most important number here. A crawl-space floor is usually 18 to 36 inches below the joists and often below outside grade, so in a wet season groundwater can stand at or above the crawl-space floor across much of Charles County. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Charles County against the rest of Maryland
Charles County ranks 8 of 23 Maryland counties, 8 points above the state median of 28. That places it in the middle range, nationally and for the state. Statewide, 25% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 23%, below the state figure — the score here comes from a shallow water table rather than drainage class alone. After moderately well drained, the next most common class is well drained at 34%.
Flooding. 9.8% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 1% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional. Flood-prone soils are a minority here, concentrated along streams; the score mostly reflects what happens between floods.
What it means for a crawl space here
In a moderate county the soil record is mixed rather than uniformly wet, so conditions vary from lot to lot. Where the lot drains, the model-code default — a vented crawl space with 1 sq ft of net vent per 150 sq ft of floor, or 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground — is a reasonable starting point; where the sections above point to a shallow water table or flood-prone soil on your lot, plan as for an elevated county. Either way, check the site first: grading that falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, and a ground cover over bare earth. A wet crawl space in a moderate county points to one of those first.
Radon. EPA radon zone 2. The zone is a county-level prediction; EPA says elevated levels occur in every zone and every home should be tested.
Near Charles County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area MD017; drainage covers 92% of 311,500 mapped acres); EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (June 2024 JSON); IRC R408.3 Unvented crawl space, as adopted in S.C. Code Regs. 8-1221 (LII). Checked 2026-10-23.